Delicious Ingredients: Best Podcasts for June 24-30, 2017

Each week I will publish the most Delicious Ingredients of my Audible Feast … the scrumptious, delectable, savory, rich, sweet, spicy, and best podcasts that have fed my ears this week. They’re listed in no particular order. You can see what I’ve been listening to here to see the competition these shows beat out to earn their spot as the best of the week.

My playlist is accessible on RadioPublic at the link below, which will take you directly to the playlist if you have the app where you can hit “follow” to get the Delicious Ingredients weekly. If you don’t have the app, get it from the Apple Store or Google Play.

To sum up this week, there were a lot of tears, some religion, strong women, and some hope and laughs.

HumaNature, Episode 23: Between a Rock and a Holy Place (6/21/17): What it’s about: “This is the first episode in a three-part summer series, called Science Camp, where we’re exploring the human side of science. Ryan Haupt had a lot of questions about his faith. When he started looking for answers, he unearthed them in unexpected places.” Why it’s great: A great HumaNature episode about a man who turned away from religion and toward science and was brave enough to explain himself to his conservative father. (24 minutes)Twitter: @HumaNatureShow

Terrible, Thanks for Asking: Mini-Season Ep. 8: Dear Grown-Ups (6/13/17): What it’s about: “What do you wish your grown-ups had said to you when you were a kid? Especially while dealing with really hard stuff? We wanted to know, so we asked the Terrible Club – listeners who support the show – and they had some thoughts. Geez da wheeze, did they have some thoughts.”Why it’s great: You have the option of hearing this episode as sad, because you feel for the adults who were kids that didn’t get loving, appropriate, helpful messages from their parents, or you could hear it as hopeful, as with many episodes of TTFA. I felt the readers’ catharsis so many times. Loud and clear: make sure your kids truly feel loved and that they know they have self-worth. (37 minutes)Twitter: @ttfapodcast

Terrible, Thanks for Asking: Mini-Season Ep. 7: Naomi + Khaleel (6/7/17): What it’s about: “Khaleel Thompson is an 18-year-old who loves music, reading, and his cat, Domino. Naomi is his mother, asking why four police officers fired more than 12 rounds at her son in a public park two weeks ago, leaving him in critical condition. The two of them are the humans behind a news headline – caught in a story that is just unfolding.” Why it’s great: I’m not surprised, but I’m disappointed, that I haven’t heard about this story in national news. Host Nora McInerny says right up front – this is not an investigative reporting show, we’re not going to get into what is happening with the case, but we are going to talk to Khaleel’s mom about what she’s going through. Similar to the “19 Hours” episode where McInerny interviewed a woman whose husband had died less than a day prior, Doualy Xaykaothao interviews Khaleel’s mom about her sadness and shock in the days following the shooting. The picture Xaykaothao paints of Naomi sitting in this dark apartment will take any mother to that room in her mind. (‏ 27minutes)
Twitter: @ttfapodcast

Ear Hustle: Misguided Loyalty (6/28/17): What it’s about: “Tommy Shakur Ross grew up in South Central Los Angles in the 1980’s. As a boy, he was seduced by what he saw as the “glamour” of gang life. Thirty years later, Shakur is still paying the price for giving his most to a gang that ultimately brought the kind of fame he wishes he’d never earned.” Why it’s great: I guess this particular episode was so striking to me because I really wasn’t expecting it. Episode one in this new series was more or less about prison life, and was also terrific, but this episode was about what put a man in prison, and it’s extremely sad. It was captured so well, it is truly art. I can’t wait to hear the arc of this podcast. (28 minutes)
Twitter: @earhustlesq

Between Us Girls, Episode 40: Get Out! (6/28/17) What it’s about: “This week, the ladies get super serious for real and welcome domestic abuse survivors Shantia and Christina as they bravely share their truth. Join the panel as they discuss the real life horror story that haunts as many as 1 in 4 women, ages 18-24. Hear why all love ain’t good love.” Why it’s great: It’s so hard to talk about domestic violence, but it’s so much more common than you might think. Consider the statistic in the quoted episode description: 1 in 4 women. Abuse can take so many forms and this episode peels back the curtain on what makes women stay and what makes women finally shut the door on those relationships, via brave first-hand stories, including one from a host of the show. My heart hurt for these women.
Twitter: @girltalkandwine

With Friends Like These: “It’s Not Who We’re Supposed to Be, But it’s Who We Are” (6/26/17): What it’s about: “A bonus pod about the Philando Castile verdict and what happens next, with Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) and Jane Coaston (@cjane87).” Why it’s great: This is a great discussion, although in this case, unlike some other With Friends Like These episodes, everyone is pretty much on the same side of the issue at hand, which is the reaction to the acquittal of Officer Jeronimo Yanez for killing Philando Castile in a traffic stop in 2016 in Minnesota. I’m not going to stop bringing up this incident and will listen to everything I can get a hold of regarding the case. Many salient points were made here, especially at the end where Coaston says for some people, breaking the law is an annoyance, and for some people, breaking the law means they’re going to die. We have to do something about that. (43 minutes)
Twitter: @crooked_friends

The Loving Project, Episode 14: Mike and Kim (6/19/17): What it’s about: “Mike and Kim met while working in a research lab at the University of Pennsylvania. At the time, Mike was a senior, while Kim had recently finished her PhD and was working as a postdoctoral researcher while raising her 10-year-old son.They bonded over music and eventually got married in 2015, about a decade after they first met. Mike is the son of Taiwanese immigrants, who grew up in an agricultural area of Maryland, while Kim hails from Southern New Jersey. In this episode of the Loving Project, they discuss food, culture, stereotypes, and the serendipitous circumstances that brought them together.” Why it’s great: This show celebrates interracial couples in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia case which made it legal to marry someone of another race everywhere in the United States. I liked this couple’s discussion about the expectations they had to consider when planning their wedding when one family pushed for a very large wedding and the couple themselves just wanted a small, informal ceremony. (29 minutes)
Twitter: @loving_project

The Ben and Ashley I. Almost Famous Podcast, Episode 7: Three’s Company (6/27/17): What it’s about: “Becca Tilley stops by to assist Ashley in making Ben feel really uncomfortable: Why did Ben really dump Becca? Where would Ashley have ranked in Ben’s Bachelor World? Plus, Ben gets approached on the street in NYC and immediately disappoints…Ashley rehashes a past beef…AND we break down which of The Bachelorette’s remaining men…are legit.” Why it’s great: I needed some laughs this week and I’ve been enjoying this new show from Bachelor Nation. If you’re not into The Bachelor franchise at all, this may not be your cup of tea, because they do talk about the franchise a lot. But – they do take calls and dole out relationship advice and this week had on Becca Tilley, who dated Ben on his season and they absolutely talked about how she left. Awkward (and great)! I also enjoyed the strange behind the scenes knowledge that Ben was really sick with a stomach illness for most of his season. I mean, I’m not happy he was sick, but as unreal as reality TV is, it was a good reminder that people do still have illnesses and general “stuff” that happens to them even though they’re sort of locked into this lifestyle for several weeks. (55 minutes)
Twitter: @benhiggi and @ashleyiaco

It’s Been a Minute: Lena Waithe from ‘Master of None’ (6/27/17): What it’s about: “Sam talks to producer, writer, and actor Lena Waithe about microwavable pork rinds, growing up in front of the TV in Chicago, transcribing reality television footage, finally making it as a Hollywood writer, powerful storytelling by people of color, and writing and acting in Master Of None with Aziz Ansari.” Why it’s great: I’ve never watched Master of None, but I sure will now! This is a new show from breakout podcast host Sam Sanders, who became uber popular during the 2016 U.S. election cycle as a host of NPR Politics. Lena Waithe was hilarious and so honest, and Sanders was an excellent interviewer. I just loved it. (50 minutes)
Twitter: @NPRItsBeenaMin

The Hilarious World of Depression, Placebo: Vol. 2 of Listeners’ Favorite Coping Songs (6/19/17): What it’s about: “When clinical depression, the ol’ Clinny D, starts getting the best of our listeners, a lot of them reach for the headphones to fire up some choice tunes. We take another spin through the therapeutic playlist and hear from The Beach Boys, the Grateful Dead, and a Taylor Swift cover you simply must listen to.” Why it’s great: This is actually a second episode like this where callers share the songs that help them through tough times. There are so many terrific selections, I totally want a Spotify playlist with all of them on it. Many of the selections took on new meaning for me, and there were some poignant recollections of facing demons and having music save your life. (21 minutes)
Twitter: @thwofd

Gravy: Separation of Church and Coffee (6/29/17): What it’s about: “How many of us would be lost without our regular coffeeshop? In the age of wifi and telecommuting, cafes have become more than purveyors of lattes and cappuccinos. They’re the office, the community hub, and the conference room as much as the provider of our caffeine fix. And now—are they also a surrogate for the church? In cities and towns across the South, an increasing number of the folks offering up latte art and high-end pourover brewing are devout Christians. Is it an unlikely and subtle tool for proselytizing? Or a more nuanced expression of 21st Century Christianity, intertwined with social events and professional endeavors.” Why it’s great: Whoa, did this story make me feel uncomfortable. I am squarely not in the proselytizing and evangelizing camp – I think this is largely because of my northern U.S. upbringing – so it was fascinating to me that there are these “Christian” coffee shops popping up all over. I just wish more of this episode had been spent on the question that was only asked at the end – how do customers feel who aren’t Christian, or maybe who don’t have a positive connotation of or relationship with a higher power? I’d love to hear more about this new type of … almost religious? business. (28 minutes)
Twitter: @Potlikker

All episode descriptions and artwork come from the linked sites. What else was fantastic this week? Send me a note! audiblefeast@gmail.com or @audible_feast on Twitter.